The Years 1982 to 1985
On December 1, 1982, the album «Thriller» was released and forever changed music history.
[Thriller album]
«Thriller» became the best-selling album of all time. More than fifty-one million copies were sold worldwide, and six of the songs from this album placed among the top ten best-selling songs. Having this many songs in the top ten—especially from only one album—was unprecedented at the time.
Both of these records are credited to Michael in the Guinness World Records book, and they have not been broken to this day.
The long-playing «Thriller» album, out of the one hundred and twenty-two weeks it spent on the United States best-selling charts, held the number one spot for an unprecedented thirty-seven weeks.
Michael: ”Ever since I was a little boy, I dreamed of making the best-selling album in music history. I remember when I was a kid, before I would jump into the pool, I would make a wish. Don’t forget, I grew up knowing the music industry, I understood the goals, and I grasped them, while everyone was telling me what was possible and what wasn’t. But I wanted to do something exceptional.
When I jumped into the pool, I would spread my arms as far apart as I could. It was like I was directing my thoughts upward, toward space. And I would make a wish, then I would dive into the water. I would tell myself, ”This is my dream, this is my wish.” Every time, before diving into the water, I did this.“
With the album «Thriller», Michael Jackson became the undisputed king of pop—and he has kept that title to this day _ unmatched!
As the director of «Billie Jean», Steve Barron was chosen to direct the first clip from the «Thriller» album. For the first time in MTV history, a music video was presented with a narrative structure—not just a collection of images and photos.
The «Billie Jean» video had a tremendous impact on MTV viewers and achieved extraordinary popularity. This video also removed many restrictions that had previously been placed in the way of Black artists, who were ignored by MTV. In fact, Michael Jackson was the first Black artist whose songs were added to the list of videos that were going to be aired on MTV. Before that, MTV refused to play videos by Black artists. And Michael changed this practice forever.
On May 16, 1983, Michael performed the song «Billie Jean» on the live television special «Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever» (Motown 25th)—which had been produced to mark its 25th anniversary. More than forty-seven million Americans watched the show. After that night, many things changed.
[Motown 25th Anniversary]
He wore the shiny black jacket that has since become legendary. Along with his black hat, which he was wearing for the first time, and the white glove that is now so famous, Michael began performing «Billie Jean» and for the first time showed the public something that would later become one of his most important trademarks.... the Moon Walk
Michael: ”I can say that the audience really enjoyed my performance. My brothers told me they had gathered at the corners of the stage and were staring at me with their mouths open. My parents and my sisters were among the audience. But the only thing I remember is that after the performance ended, I opened my eyes and saw a sea of people standing there, cheering me on.“
Some viewers later said that when Michael performed the Moon Walk, it seemed as if the whole world had stopped moving.
In an article in the weekly magazine Entertainment, published on February 19, 1999, this historic performance was described as: ”A small step for a man and a great leap for pop music: during the performance of «Billie Jean», Michael Jackson displayed his Moon Walk, which defied the laws of physics. And even rocket scientists were left stunned.“
Dan Mischer, the producer and director of NBC’s specials, said: ”We spent hours in the editing room discussing every single scene of his dance film. He put on an incredible show.“
With his dancing, he drove everyone crazy!
It was clear to everyone that the next song or video had to be «Thriller». Michael chose John Landis [the American man who lives in London, and in his stories, at night when the moon is full he turns into a werewolf] to direct this video. He knew Landis was perfectly suited for the job.
In addition, Michael’s lawyer, John Branca, came up with a great idea. He suggested that they also produce a film from behind the scenes of the making of the «Thriller» video.
Michael: ”It seemed strange that no one had done this before. We were sure it would become an interesting documentary-style report film.“
In February 1984, the «Thriller» video was aired on MTV for the first time, and it truly revolutionized the way music videos were made, forever changing the future of these videos.
[Thriller video]
With the release of this video, Michael made history and transformed MTV forever. «Thriller» was the first music video that was produced specifically to be turned into a short film.
Later, at the end of the second Christian millennium, «Thriller» was selected as the best music video of all time!
Michael: ”My brother Jackie came to my house and asked, ‘Are you watching this show that’s on MTV right now? All they do is play music.’
I watched the show and thought it had an interesting concept. But I didn’t like the video itself, which was just a collection of images. I thought, if I were going to make a video, I would make something with more entertaining value. What I had in mind was the idea of making a video with a beginning, a body, and an ending—like a short film.“
After the first television broadcast of «Thriller» on MTV, CBS (Epic) released the video as a single item and album sales went crazy. According to statistics, the release of the behind-the-scenes film of the «Thriller» video and the album’s singles resulted in additional sales of fourteen million albums and soundtrack tapes over a period of six months.
At one point in 1984, one million copies of the «Thriller» album were sold every week.
[Behind the scenes of the Thriller film]
On March 30, 1984, the behind-the-scenes film of the «Thriller» video was released, becoming the best-selling behind-the-scenes film that had been made up to that time.
Michael: ”The success of the «Thriller» behind-the-scenes film was almost a shock for all of us.“
This record was later broken only by one person.
Guess who.... ”Michael Jackson”
On January 16, 1984, for the first time in the history of the American Music Awards, Michael Jackson won 8 astonishing awards.